Ninjago's Christmas Crisis
by Ninja Vocaloid
Summary: It's Christmas in Ninjago! Zane is having the time of his life learning about traditions and Santa Claus, it being his first year celebrating Christmas. But what will happen when the ninjas wake up on Christmas morning and find that there aren't any presents, but coal in their stockings? Lloyd is the only one with a present. Is he the only truly good ninja in the Bounty?
1. Christmas Eve

It is yet another snowy and chilly day in Ninjago. The frozen precipitation flows evenly from the cloudy, gray sky, covering the grassy ground with a thick layer of white. Excited, I awake my brothers. "Guys, it's snowing!" I cry.

"Only you would care this much, Zane," Kai groans, tugging his pillow over his face and over his ears. "Go away!" he teases.

"Either way," Cole admits, "Your outbursts about snow really creep us out."

I snatch Kai's pillow away from his grasp and smack the sleeping Jay with it. In the meantime, I explain, "But Cole, you jump up and down like an excited toddler during dirt storms, especially ones that you cause."

We accusingly glare at Cole. "Fine, let's go play in the snow," he grumbles. He gets up reluctantly.

Cole, Jay, and I leave the room to go gather our coats. Kai asks, "Wait, no breakfast?"

We shrug. "Stay in if you want," I suggest.

"Maybe I will." Kai shrugs. "I hate snow." He grins. "Guys, today's Christmas Eve!"

"Christmas Eve?" I ask, tilting my head to the right.

"Oh, yeah! I totally forgot!" Jay says joyously, putting his hand over his forehead. "Santa's coming tonight!"

"Santa?" Kai laughs. "You still believe that?"

Jay exclaims, "Well, Sensei Wu didn't make us put stockings out for nothing, now did he?"

"Who—" I begin.

Cole cuts me off. "That's probably because Lloyd still thinks Santa's real. All because he's physically 16 like the rest of us doesn't mean that he stopped believing."

Gleefully, I butt in, "I am physically 17!"

They roll their eyes. "Well, anyway," Kai says, "Maybe we should concentrate on making 'Santa Claus' cookies. Zane, are you up to baking?"

"Sure, but—"

"Great! Make him chocolate chip cookies!" Kai commands.

I walk into our closet and pull out my pink apron. I trudge into the kitchen, watching the snow from the window. I sigh because I am making cookies for someone who I have never even heard of!

After the cookies are done, I wipe my hands on my floral-patterned apron and walk into the living room of the Destiny's Bounty. "I am finished," I announce, holding the plate out in front of me.

Jay cheers, "They look delicious!" He reaches for one. I don't hesitate to let him grab one.

Kai slaps Jay's hand. "They aren't for you! They're for Santa!"

"Oh, right," Jay says sheepishly. He backs away from the tray. "Put them on top of the fireplace mantel."

I nod and place it next to the Christmas cards. I pick one up and read it. I smirk, "Skales sent us a card?"

"Weird, right?" Cole laughs.

"And from… Garmadon? It reads, 'Merry Hanukkah, ninjas. I'm out to get you!" I read aloud.

"Is that foreshadowing or something?" Kai asks. "NV needs to do better than that."

"Don't break the 4th wall, dude. It took us forever to repair it last time!" Cole whines.

I state, "The phrase was made when there were three walls on a traditional three-wall box set in a proscenium theatre since the fourth wall was where the audience saw in."

The other three blink. "Let's pretend we know what that meant," Cole says, a cheesy grin on his face.

That night, we all sit around the fireplace, sipping hot cocoa, even Sensei. Lloyd chimes, "I can't wait for Christmas Day! Santa's coming and we're going to exchange gifts!"

Everyone smiles and nods. Nya leans her head on Jay's shoulder. Lloyd snickers and nudges Jay. He points to mistletoe over a doorway. Jay gets the memo and drags Nya away with him.

I raise an eyebrow as I watch them curiously. Jay wraps his arms around Nya and they kiss. Kai fakes a gag and Cole giggles. I just sit, confused about this whole 'Christmas' matter. Everyone is silent. Then I raise the question, "Who or what is Santa Claus?"

Sensei sighs exasperatedly. "Zane, I wouldn't imagine you to understand…"

Jay, who is now red faced, has come back to sit with us. Nya sits next to him. My eyes flicker to them and back to Sensei. I ask, "Yes? Why does he like cookies? Is he fake?"

Lloyd shouts, "No!"

"Yes!" Cole, Jay, and Kai shout.

Kai clears his throat. "Well, it's an old children's tale. A man with white beard comes down the chimney and gives the children toys if they were nice. But if they were bad, they get lumps of coal in their stocking."

Cole interrupts, "Well, I personally wouldn't mind…"

"Yes, you would," Jay says.

**Sorry guys, this is gonna have a super cheesy plot to it, but hey, it's a Christmas special, right? XD Who doesn't love Sensei dressing as Santa and Garmadon dressing as Rudolph? (Don't worry, that won't really happen.) Well, Merry Christmas! Chapter 2 will come soon! Oh, and it's gonna be Zane's POV the whole time, but he's just my favorite so… Eheheh…**


	2. The Morning Mishap

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ninjago!**

We all fell asleep after we got into our pajamas. Lloyd screams in our faces to wake us up the next morning. I literally jump 5 feet into the air after he chants "CHRISTMAS TIME! WAKE UP, ZANE!" directly into my ear. I stare at him in bewilderment.

I mutter, "What is the big deal?" I roll over onto my side, not amused, and tug the covers over my head, trying to block Lloyd from my senses.

"What's the big deal?" Cole chuckles, smacking me with his pillow repetitively. "It's Christmas! Santa came!"

This catches my interest. I sit bolt upright. "Did we get gifts?"

"Duh!" Lloyd snaps.

"OK, OK, I'm coming!" I stretch and snake out of bed, putting on slippers.

Cole and Lloyd force Jay and Kai awake as I make my bed, pulling the sterile-looking white covers to the top edge of my bed. I glance out the window, seeing that the snow has stuck. Our snowman we made yesterday stayed, too. It wasn't pushed over by the freak windstorm last night.

All five of us race to the living room, but find one lone present under the tree. "Is it for all of us?" Jay ponders, crawling closer towards it.

Lloyd beats him to it. "It says it's for me!" He examines it closer.

Jay whimpers, "Nothing for us? Zip?"

Cole reaches for his stocking. He dumps it onto the floor. "Wha—"

"Just what you always wanted!" Kai laughs. He grabs his own stocking and peeks into it. His expression saddens. "How could this be?"

Jay's is also filled with the earthy material. I can sense it. Even mine! But Lloyd's was filled with miniature toys and candies of all sizes. "It seems this 'Santa' has his favorites," I guess.

"No kidding," Lloyd says gleefully as he sorts through his stocking.

I can feel Kai getting angry with Lloyd and fate, since he thrust his stocking onto the ground. His name on the oversized sock glitters like embers in the streak of daylight from the window. I step towards him, hoping to calm him down. "Kai—"

Kai shouts, "Lloyd! You did this!" He juts his finger at Lloyd. "He got mad for us saying Santa was fake and he sabotaged our Christmas! He got himself a present and ditched ours!"

Cole sighs, "Yeah, and it was Zane's first, also!" He shot me a look of pity. I am not sure how to react to everyone's attitudes. I shrug.

I ask thoughtfully, "Cole, would you like my coal?"

Cole puts his palm to his forehead and releases an over exaggerated sigh. "Zane, I want presents. Not coal. I'm a good kid!"

I drop the rock back into my white stocking. "Fine."

Kai, who was still fuming, stomps into our room. "All of it! It's Lloyd's fault!"

The door slams closed, and we look over at Lloyd. "Lloyd, is this true?" I ask sadly.

"No! I didn't! I swear!" Lloyd denies, almost tearful. "I don't know who could've done it!" He whimpers and stares at his present. He carefully pulls the wrapping paper off. He gasps.

Cole leans in closer and squeaks, "What is that?!"

Lloyd picks up a smoke bomb. "It's a bomb! It's set for—"

He never did complete his sentence. We have to evacuate the Destiny's Bounty before peppermint-scented steam fills our lungs. We pull our masks on and Spinjitzu out of the property.

Kai yells, "Lloyd, you even set a smoke bomb and everything?"

Lloyd is riled up now and ready to wrestle Kai to the ground. I manage to step in between them before anything else gets tenser. I push against their chests as they dash towards each other. "Help!"

Cole grasps Kai and Jap tries his best to handle Lloyd, but Lloyd keeps shocking him with lightning. Jay is getting beat by his own element!

Sensei finds us outside and holds up a note. "This was under the tree! It says, 'Enjoy your Christmas present! I'll be up where you will never find me! Muahaha!'"

"No way it actually has an evil cackle written on it," Nya groans. "Looks like our little friend has plans for the holidays!"

"Evil never rests, Nya," Sensei sighs. "I'm afraid my brother is up to this."

"Naw, really?!" we gripe sarcastically.

"Well, he left us a hint," Cole decides. "'I'll be UP where you will never find me!'"

I question, "In outer space?"

Lloyd corrects, "The North Pole, Zane. The North Pole."


	3. Beginning the Journey

**Just a little note: I most likely won't be done with this by Christmas. =_= Maybe the 26****th**** 8D Well, aren't I just whipping through this! Started today and already on chapter 3. XD I need a better life.**

I process what all of this means. The North Pole? "Why would he be there?" I think aloud.

Jay stares at me, an annoyed look plastered onto his face. "'Santa' supposedly lives there. At the top of the world. Yanno, where it's really cold?"

"We might have to travel there," Sensei nods.

"By foot? The Bounty might be unable to travel," Cole frets. "It's below freezing, never mind at the Pole!" He wrings his wrists and aimlessly paces around, the snow and ice cracking below his feet with rapid snaps.

Jay shouts, "Cole! Watch out, that's—"

Too late. Cole falls through the ice and splashes into the cold water below.

"Cole!" Nya shrieks. She thrusts her hand towards the floating figure. "Grab on!"

I shake my head. Nya cannot be THAT strong. Forgive me, Nya. Cole is bobbing away now, frozen in shock. "Can you swim?" I ask frantically. He shakes his head rapidly. Adrenaline rushes through me, and I dive into the water. "Come on!" I demand. Cole does. I pull him back out of the water.

"If that really was Santa delivering the presents, he's messed up. He should've at least given Zane some mint gum in his stocking. Or a candy cane," Kai considers.

Cole shivers violently. I glance around. I can't really go back into the house with the smoke traveling through, but I cannot let one of my brothers freeze to death either. I tug my mask over my nose and mouth and go inside. Silently, daring not to breath, I grab the blanket off of my bed. Before I reach the door, though, my senses give into the stench. Wooziness overcomes my systems and I fall to my knees. The door is open. The snow outside is urging me on. I crawl to the door and collapse into the thick padding.

They trudge through the snow and over to me, grabbing the blanket and draping it around Cole. "Z-Zane?" Cole chatters through clenched teeth. "Are you O-OK?"

"Just fine. Just… Fine…" Everything goes blank.

I stir, sensing happiness as I awaken. I peek at my surroundings with one eye. Everyone is staring down at me… I leap into the air! "Hey! You scared the ka-jeepers out of me!" I gasp.

Jay scoffs, "Well, speak for yourself! It's not every day you nearly get smacked in the face my a Nindroid."

I roll my eyes. "Sorry. Anyways, how long was I out for?"

Sensei replies, "Quite a while. You realize you didn't have to jump in the Bounty to get a blanket, right?" He gestures to Kai.

I rest my head in the palm of my left hand dramatically. I can be a nimrod Nindroid at times. I look up when I hear a familiar cawing. "The falcon!" The bird flutters down and onto my head.

_Merry Christmas! _Its voice rings in my head. Then I feel something slimy atop my hair. _Here's your present!_

"Eww," everyone cries. I feel my head. Gross! Bird dung!

"Thanks," I mutter to the falcon. "Merry Christmas to you, too."

_You're welcome, Master! _the voice rings cheerily.

"My Fine-Feathered Friend," I begin. "Can you guide us to the North Pole?"

He says sarcastically, _What, do you want me to put on a fake red nose, too? 'Falcon the red-nosed robot! Had a very shiny beak!'_

"You can stop now," I muse.

_OK, OK. DO you want my help or not, Tin-Man?_

"Don't get me thinking about the turtle incident."

_Sheesh, you're in a bad mood today. OK, I'll take you where you want._

"Thanks."

The mechanical bird flies into the air, heading to the home of Santa Claus.

"D-Don't go so fast!" Cole complains. "Remember who almost froze to death here!" The falcon shoes no signs of slowing. He purposely ignores our pleading, but why should we complain? We're helping get Christmas back.

I ask, "Can you guys tell me more about Christmas?"

Nya laughs, "Sure. The reason of the season is to be joyful and share kindness everywhere you go."

Sensei chimes in, "It is better to give than receive. You boys should remember that."

Kai blinks. "Uh…"

Lloyd and Kai glimpse at each other, a worried look on their pale faces.

Are they regretting what they did at the Bounty? I sigh as we dash through the snow.

Jay seems to be thinking the exact same thought as I was. "'Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse something, something sleigh…' Man, too bad we don't have a sleigh!"

We laugh. I do not get what he is singing though. Kai suggests, "Let's sing some Christmas carols."

I know none, but I enjoy their joyful chorus. I listen and hum along once I catch onto a tune.

**Too short? Maybe. Any who, I'll try to work on this more tomorrow since on Christmas Eve we mostly just sit around most of the day. –shrug- 8( Heh, hope you are enjoying the cheesiness of it all!**


	4. The Good Little Ninjas Save the Day

**Hi, everyone! Happy Christmas Eve! Maybe I'll get this all up before tonight!**

We arrive at the North Pole, right next to a sign that says 'Elf Workshop'. Lloyd suggests, "Maybe our gifts are in here."

Nya snaps, "We're here to save Christmas, not get our presents back!" She sneaks around the side and slips in the door. We follow her in and take in the wonders of the amazingly colorful workshop. People dressed in green and red plow away at building toys and gifts and stuffing stockings with candies of all sizes! But then something catches my eye.

"Guys!" I whisper frantically.

Kai is too busy drinking in the magic of the place to pay any attention to me.

"What?" Jay whispers back.

"Look closely at the little builders—"

"Elves," Cole corrects.

"Right, elves. But take a second glance at them." I squint at one.

"Woah!" Nya exclaims. A little too loudly. She clasps her hands over her mouth. She murmurs, "They're the skeletons!"

"If they're working for Garmadon, something must've happened," Jay reasons. "The toys are normal. Nothing spooky at all!"

I nod. I look around for anything else mysterious.

Cole says, "Look! A door! It says 'Santa's list'."

"Maybe he is sticking to the ol' list myth," Sensei guesses.

Lloyd scoffs, "Yeah, well, he didn't necessarily check it twice."

Sensei shoots his nephew a glare warning him to hush. "Ninjas, go in there. I will distract the skeletons."

Kai laughs, "Wait! So, there really IS a list for Santa? Naw, I'm dreaming. I have to be."

I think that we should try to blend in with our surroundings, so I grab a skeleton's arm and wrestle it to the ground with a deathly silence. I push it behind a wall and disguise myself in its Christmas-themed clothes. I walk out from behind the wall, the clothes seeming bulky over my ninja suit.

"Good idea, Zane!" Kai cheers, tackling a worker to the ground.

"A good idea to go under cover?" I ask.

"No, to dress according to topic!" Kai laughs, coming out in an elf outfit.

"OK," I manage, really confused about his spirit.

"Let's sneak over there and seek out whoever else is not on the list," Jay instructs. He, too, is dressed appropriately.

We grin at the thought of being on such a fun mission! We loop around baskets of balls, trays of boxed toys, and a huge pit of mismatched pieces that elves are quickly putting together.

"Hey, you!" an 'elf' shouts at me.

"M—Me?" I stutter, stopping straight in my tracks.

"Yeah!" Then I realize it is only Nuckal. "You girls need to be guarding the candy supply!"

"'Girls?'" Kai repeats angrily.

I restrain him from punching the fool out of the lightning general. I whisper, "His one eye must make it hard for him to tell our genders, especially in these goofy outfits."

Kai grunts and then nods. "Um… Sure, N—Nuckal. We'd be…" He chokes out the next words. "HAPPY to assist."

Nuckal grumbles something about Garmadon under his breath as he storms away. We creep over towards the lollipop crafting area of the workshop and admire the machine.

Nya examines it closer and states, "It works by turning this lever and pulling this handle." She does a demonstration and a blue lollipop is formed.

Jay snatches it from the conveyer belt and beings to eat it. "It's good! Might be managed by skeletons, but this workshop seems to be in better shape than we'd think."

Jay leads the way to the door, then turns around and sees Nya still at the lollipop-maker. I ponder, "Nya, aren't you coming?"

She shakes her head and works the machine. "No, I have to stay and make candy or the skeletons will suspect something!"

Sensei steps towards Nya. "I will stay and help, too. You boys go and solve this Christmas mystery."

Lloyd lets me get in front. "Here, Zane, you lead," he volunteers nervously. "You're better at sensing trouble."

I grin and take up the front of the group. At the moment, all I sense is gingerbread men and gumdrops being baked. It is really clogging up my sixth sense. We burst into the list room and see rows and rows of one huge list! It is filled with names upon names of children, good and bad. Some names have check marks on them; some have huge red X's to the side.

"Split up and find our names!" Jay barks. He hands us each a pen. "These are for changing the symbols."

I take my pen and nod. I dash around the room, trying to find the 6 names…

"Don't just go around erasing marks on actual villains," Lloyd warns. "That could mean trouble."

"I still can't believe I'm doing this," I hear Kai mutter.

"Me neither," I cheer. He rolls his eyes.

Just then, the door slams open. There stands our enemy, ready to fight. He has half a gingerbread man cookie sticking out of his mouth, so I assume he was in the middle of a snack before we intruded. "Hey!" Garmadon shouts through his full mouth. He tosses the cookie and egg nog aside and is ready to pounce on us.

"Dad!" Lloyd fakes a smile. "Merry Christmas!"

The enemy's eyes soften. "Lloyd," he murmurs. I can sense he is remembering memories of past Christmases with his family. They stare at each other for a while.

"Guys, I can handle this," Lloyd says, a ball of shimmering green light forming in his hands. "Go find Santa."

Lord Garmadon cackles, "You'll never find him inside of the chamber where he keeps trashed toys!"

We all stare at him, half amused. Kai grumbles something under his breath about our author. Sheesh, Kai, give her some slack! Arguing about turtles and tortoises is somewhat tiring. I can sense her frantically working to get this done before—

"Zane! Snap out of it!" Jay screeches.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts. "Coming!" Where will we find the misfit toys?

I hear the falcon's words inside my brain: _Woah, so this really is like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! Let's go find the band of Misfit Toys! Wheeee!_

"Aw, hush," I plea. "Where are you?" Then something gooey slides down my face. "Never mind…"

_Heeheeheeee…_

The falcon leads us to the chamber where Santa Claus is being held captive. A candy-coated padlock adorns the chain that runs through the gate. "Great, a lock," I sneer.

"We could just eat through it!" Jay and Lloyd giggle. They are already becoming hyper from the thought of it…

"Last thing we need is a couple of dorks goofing up this plan," Kai sighs. "Look for a key, guys."

After about 30 well-wasted minutes, I come upon a stack of candy canes. A snack would be nice right now, but I have a better idea. I sort through them and find what I'm looking for. This one candy cane has a textured bottom to it. I stuff it into the lock and turn it clockwise. Ah ha! The padlock clangs onto the ground. "Got it!" I announce.

I tentatively step into the cold, moist air behind to gate, not sure what to expect. Kai comes after me, claiming, "Nothing can scare me!" A jack-in-the-box creates eerie music, and a really freaky clown head pops out of the top and into Kai's personal space. "AAAIIIEE!" he screams, spazzing out. I put a palm to my face.

"Ho-ho-who's there?" a weary voice calls.

"We're the ninjas! Who are you?" Lloyd asks carefully, a warning tone in his voice.

The man stays silent. "K-Kai, can you shine us some light?" Cole questions, slightly shivering. He sneezes suddenly.

"Oh, uh, heehee. See, I sort of left it outside." A nervous, stiff laugh escapes from my friend.

It may be dark, but I can feel everyone else desperately looking at me. "Fine," I whine. Opening my arm panel, I slide a few switches and my head gives off a fluorescent glow.

"That's better. Because I'm afraid of the dark!" Jay sighs.

"What?" Lloyd raises an eyebrow accusingly.

"Oops! Um, let's go find Santa!" Jay dashes ahead, tripping on headless dolls once or twice. That boy can be something else.

Eventually, we come across the owner of the voice. He has a long white beard, bushier than Sensei's, and a red suit and hat. Is this Santa? "Oh my gosh!" Lloyd cries. "It's Santa!"

"Ho-ho-ho! You are the ninjas! What're you doing here?"

Lloyd explains our dilemma.

Kai, a guilty clouding in his amber eyes, says, "So, Santa, it seems that you really are real."

Cole sneezes, "Ah-CHOO! Sorry. Guess you were right, Lloyd… We're sorry."

Lloyd sniffs from joyful crying. "It's OK. Group hug!" We engulf him in a doggy-pile.

Back at home it is snowing once more. Lloyd and Kai anxiously pace in circles. "Were we good enough to get presents?" they repeat nervously.

"Oh, no!" Jay gasps. "We forgot to put ourselves on the 'Nice List'!"

I sit cross-legged on a pillow and resolve, "It is the joy of saving the world that puts us on the list. Not a pen and paper. We gave the best gift of all- saving Christmas from Garmadon."

"I agree," Sensei smiles down at me. This was the best first Christmas ever.

**YAAAY! Got it finished! Here's my Christmas present to you all! Merry Christmas! DISCLAIMER: I don't own any carols or the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer story or anything. You get it. Have a blessed holiday! 8D**


End file.
